We’ve made a lot of changes in the organ donation space, and we know you probably have questions about those changes. Below, we’ve answered the questions we get most often. Don’t see the answer to your question? Shoot us an email and we’ll try to get you one.

What’s going on with these tweets?

After we streamlined the organ donor registration process by bringing it online, we wondered whether there was an easier, more personal way to let your family know about your donor wishes. So we revisited the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act and spoke with its authors, the Sadler Brothers, and realized that “social declarations” like a Tweet, ‘gram, or Facebook post could be a simple and powerful way for someone to publicly share their donor wishes as evidence for their next of kin. Our registry captures posts that include donation-related hashtags like #OrganDonor, and we’re working on getting states to search for them when determining whether someone wanted to be a donor.

What is the difference between social declaration and registration?

A registration is a legal Document of Gift that formally indicates your desire to donate your organs at your time of death. A social declaration is a statement of your donor wishes that can be shown to your family and friends as evidence at your time of death (even if someone is not registered, their next of kin can still authorize the donation). You can create a registration and socially declare from our website, but right now most states are only searching for registrations. We’re trying to change that by making our free registry available to all states so that they can search both registrations and social declarations. Right now, registering to be an organ donor is the only way to ensure that your end of life wishes will be acted upon.

How many states are searching social declarations?

Currently, six states are searching for social declarations but several other states have shown interest. We expect to have more states searching for declarations by the end of the summer. In the meantime, it’s important to register and socially declare to ensure that your donor wishes are known.

How do you confirm identity?

When Organ Procurement Organization coordinators are trying to confirm the identity of someone they believe made a social declaration, they rely on profile pictures and other social posts to verify identity. Most often, the person’s profile picture will be shown to their family and friends for confirmation. Family and friends may also be asked to search for the person’s profile themselves, to verify that the declaration came from their loved one.

What about my driver’s license?

If you registered as an organ donor at the DMV, thank you! You took the first step towards helping us #EndTheWaitlist. Unfortunately, the DMV can only register you as an organ donor in your state. Our registry ensures that you are registered both in your home state and nationally, so it’s important to register again with us. Don’t worry, it only takes 47 seconds.

What happens to my registration when you close?

ORGANIZE has built a highly secure database which stores both traditional registrations as well as social media declarations. While we plan to shut our doors after five years as an organization, our technology, and all the information in our database, will live on. Our plan is to find the appropriate partner to absorb and scale our technology, running it securely in perpetuity. Every registration in our database will always remain secure and actionable.

How can i update or revoke my registration?

When you click on the “Register” button on the ORGANIZE home page, you will see an option to update your status. When you click “Update My Status”, you will see options to update or revoke your registration. Revoking your decision will only de-register you from the ORGANIZE registry, and you may still need to de-register from your appropriate state registry as well. ORGANIZE only has the ability to modify our own registry, so you will need to go to the website of your state registry to de-register with them. If you do not, we cannot guarantee that your state will check our registry and find your most recent wishes.